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Virginity testing isn't about medicine, it's about shaming people for not living up to someone else's moral code.
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Dear friends,
The Internet has been abuzz with stories about a famous rapper who said he accompanies his 18-year-old daughter to an annual exam to check her hymen and "prove" she's still a virgin. This specific story is wild on its own, but it's part of a disturbingly common practice of virginity testing. It's time for American medical licensing boards to stop supporting this pseudoscientific abuse.
Virginity tests are inherently invasive. Medical professionals use their fingers or a speculum to probe in a person's vagina to evaluate their hymen. If they see this piece of flesh has been stretched or broken, the assumption is that it's been done with a penis, proving that the patient isn't a virgin.
First off, it's a completely bogus medical test. There are all sorts of ways a hymen can break, from horseback riding to using tampons. But even more dubious is the idea that virginity is a condition in need of medical inspection. People who are sexually active should get medical care like STI and pregnancy testing. But simply being or not being a virgin doesn't determine a person's health.
In reality, virginity testing is about shaming the people who endure it. People who've undergone it describe feeling violated and confused. Often, the test is forced upon people by parents or other caregivers who are more interested in imposing their personal moral code than actually protecting the health of the people they submit to these tests.
Yet, as long as doctors continue to perform these tests, they have the veneer of being a real medical issue. That needs to stop. Sign the petition to urge state medical boards to disallow virginity testing for licensed medical professionals.
Thank you,
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| P.S. Licensed medical doctors should know better than to perform virginity tests. State medical boards should ensure the doctors they license don't do it. |
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